Beautiful Isle

Beautiful Isle, an island off the west coast by the Sunset Sea, is the seat of House Farman and the setting of Rhaena Targaryen’s marriage to Androw Farman. For a time, the twice-widowed queen made it her home and gathered a court around her. The island’s brief place in her life ends amid a family dispute: when Lord Franklyn Farman tries to prevent his sister Elissa from leaving, the dockside crowd intervenes, and Rhaena’s companions sail away.

Setting and House Farman

The account places Beautiful Isle in the west, by the Sunset Sea, and identifies its lord as the head of House Farman. In 49 AC, that lord was Marq Farman. His second son, Androw, was neither heir to the island nor a knight; nevertheless, he became Rhaena’s husband. The island thus offered the queen a household apart from the royal court, though her marriage there remained closely bound to the fortunes and authority of the Farmans.

Rhaena’s wedding and household

Rhaena and Androw married in a small, swift ceremony under the open sky, presided over by Marq Farman and conducted by the family’s own septon. Rhaena was twenty-six and had been widowed twice; Androw was seventeen, amiable and notably younger. Only Lyman Lannister and his wife, Jocasta, attended among the great lords. Rhaena’s former favorites Samantha Stokeworth and Alayne Royce came to stand with her, as did Androw’s sister, Elissa Farman; the rest of the guests were bannermen and household knights of House Farman or House Lannister.

The marriage was kept from the king and his court until a raven from Casterly Rock brought word days after the feast and bedding. Queen Alyssa was reported to be deeply offended that she had been excluded, and her relationship with Rhaena was said never to have been as warm afterward. Rogar Baratheon, then Hand of the King, was also furious that Rhaena had remarried without the Crown’s leave. The account suggests that the secrecy may have reflected the likelihood that permission would not have been granted: Androw was considered an unworthy match for a twice-crowned queen and the mother of the king’s heir. Jaehaerys and Alysanne, by contrast, welcomed the news, sending gifts and congratulations and ordering the Red Keep’s bells to ring in celebration.

Rhaena resided on Beautiful Isle with her new husband and a court of her own, known as the Queen in the West. Androw was described as gentle and kind, but he was mocked at his father’s court for lacking martial skill and was considered unsuccessful as a squire. His father had even considered sending him to Oldtown to train as a maester, before learning that he could scarcely read or write. Asked why she had chosen him, Rhaena answered that he had been kind to her. The contrast between his poor prospects by the standards of rank and arms and the value Rhaena placed on his kindness defines the marriage as the account presents it.

Departure and the dockside confrontation

After Marq Farman’s funeral, his son Franklyn summoned Rhaena and ordered her to leave the island. He would not allow her to take Elissa, whom he intended to marry to a man of his own choosing. Rhaena departed that night on Dreamfyre, flying to Casterly Rock after instructing her husband and companions to follow by ship with those who might love her. She dissuaded Androw from challenging Franklyn to single combat, pointing to the danger and to the prospect of being widowed yet again.

The next morning, Androw, Samantha, Alayne, and more than forty of Rhaena’s friends, servants, and followers prepared to leave. Elissa joined them, intending to sail aboard her ship, Maiden’s Fancy. At the docks, however, Franklyn announced that the others could go but that his sister must stay. He had brought only six men and had misjudged the affection the island’s smallfolk—especially sailors, shipwrights, fisherfolk, and porters—felt for Elissa, many of whom had known her since childhood. When she confronted him and he tried to seize her, the gathering crowd overwhelmed his men. Three were pushed into the water, and Franklyn was thrown into a hold filled with fresh-caught cod. Elissa and the others boarded Maiden’s Fancy unharmed and sailed for Lannisport.

The island’s role in Rhaena’s story

Beautiful Isle is first a refuge where Rhaena establishes a household and marries without waiting for the Crown’s consent. Its importance then shifts from private retreat to contested family territory: Franklyn’s attempt to control who may leave, and whom Elissa may marry, is defeated not by a royal decision but by the intervention of the island’s people. Their support allows Rhaena’s companions to depart and makes the docks the final setting of her residence there.